


I'm the Worst Part of You

by 105ttt



Category: The Legend of Zelda: Four Sword Adventures
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-19
Updated: 2021-02-19
Packaged: 2021-03-15 10:02:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,424
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29557425
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/105ttt/pseuds/105ttt
Summary: Green finds himself face-to-face with Link, the very person he was created from. What will he say? What will Link say? And is Green ready to hear it?
Comments: 4
Kudos: 20





	I'm the Worst Part of You

**Author's Note:**

> If you are triggered by mentions of suicide or suicide ideation, please do not read this fic. While no one attempts suicide and the mentions of suicide ideation are brief, they are still there.

Alone. He was alone. That was the first thing Green noticed - maybe because he’s always so used to being around the others that it had become the default for him, and anything outside of that felt _off_.

But it wasn’t just the absence of the others that threw him off. Something had given him a throbbing headache, and it took a few moments for his eyes to adjust to the low light around him. Where exactly _was_ he, anyway? A quick glance around offered no hints; it was all just dark stone walls and the distant sound of dripping water. The only source of light, it seemed, was coming from a hole in the ceiling of this place - but it was a dull light, just bright enough to let him make out the surfaces of the walls around him. And the more he looked, the more he realized… there were no exits from this room.

 _It must be magic_ , he thinks as he pushes himself off of the ground. _How else could I get into a room with no way out?_

But then a small panic starts to settle in. Because he’s alone. And he can’t use magic - not like Shadow can, anyway. How is he going to get out? Maybe blasting the walls to smithereens with Force Energy?

No good. Try as he might, every beam he shoots from the Four Sword proves ineffective.

That panic starts creeping up little by little. So, there’s no escape. And he’s alone. Surely the others are coming to find him, right? It’s the same as the last time this happened; they’re all drawn to each other. Surely they’ll find each other no matter how far apart they are, no matter what forces are at work to keep them separated, because they’re one and the same. They are souls calling to each other across deserts, through caves and forests, all the way to the most remote villages of the kingdom.

He’s sure of that, and yet, there’s this gnawing at his mind. There’s this tiny voice telling him he’s never going to see them again, and it makes him worry just a little, gripping the rim of his cap ever so slightly with both hands. Because if he’s not there, they’re technically powerless, and they’re also relying on him for guidance, and he still has so many things he has to say to each of them, and-

“Now, now. Calm down. That’s not very leader-like, is it?”

And his heart skips a beat. Because he hears his own voice. It’s the same, down to the pitch. Which means it’s not one of the others, unless Shadow is playing a trick on him by becoming his doppelgänger. And he really hopes that that’s the case, for once, because that means he can find a way out, a way to get back to the others and get back to what he was doing.

(What _was_ he doing before? His mind is cloudy.)

He tries to still his rapidly beating heart with a deep breath, confident he’s figured out what’s going on at last, and he turns around to the source of the voice.

“Shadow-”

“Nope. But good guess. We get confused for each other a lot. Or at least, we did back when I was still around.”

His breath is baited. Because the source of the voice isn’t Shadow. It’s not even Shadow disguised as him, because the features are off. There’s something different about their face - their eyes, and even their eyebrows - that signals that it’s not him. And yet, it’s all familiar, and they’re wearing the same green tunic, with the same green cap, and they have his voice, and their sword isn’t a Four Sword.

It all crashes down on him at once. He only breathes in to speak.

“Link?”

“The one and only,” Link smiles at him gently.

“That’s…” he takes a few steps back, appalled, “that’s not possible!”

“It sure isn’t. Well, if I’m corporeal. But I’m not corporeal right now.”

“Huh?” Green blinks and feels the sweat rolling down his face.

“I’m not alive. See?” Link says as he raises a hand, and he approaches a nervous Green before reaching through his chest. “Goes right through you!”

“How?” Green breathes, a bit shaken. “That doesn’t make any sense! We’re split right now! Isn’t your soul divided among us?”

“You know,” Link says, and he backs up to give Green space, “maybe you should just accept it for now. I mean, do you even know where we are?”

Green looks around again. “No clue.”

“Then, what are you going to do? Stand around and quake in your boots?”

Green blushes, looking away from Link ever so slightly.

“I’m thinking.”

“Are you, really? What happened last time you got separated? You just kept searching until you were rescued at the last minute, yeah?”

“If you _must_ know,” Green snaps, but he realizes the disrespect in his tone and takes another deep breath, “I was determined to find them. I didn’t stand around and do nothing.”

“But you spent all that time in the Pyramid sulking, and wishing they were with you, and that was after you’d just been fighting with them and complaining about their company! Some leader you are.”

“Excuse me?” Green asks, his voice and hands shaking and his face growing hotter.

“What have you ever done for them, really? Can you call yourself a leader if your entire existence so far has revolved around benefitting from the deeds of others? What have you ever done that made you a leader?”

“How can you say that? I-” He starts to yell, against his better judgement, but he catches himself. This isn’t just anyone. This is Link. The true owner of his entire life, his entire being. Weird as it was, the person before him was someone he looked up to, someone he admired. So he loosens his fists, which had begun to curl as Link talked, and closes his eyes.

“I’m sorry for yelling,” he says with as level of a voice as he could muster, “I’m amazed you’re here talking with me. I really owe you a lot.”

Link gives him a curious stare. “You mean that? Even if I am you?”

In spite of his rage earlier, Green hears himself giggle. “I do mean it. I’m grateful that you gave myself and the others the chance to live, and I’m even more grateful you allowed us to split a second time so we could be together again.”

“Well, I’m not.”

“Pardon?”

“I’m not happy about it. About you.”

Green takes a defensive step back. “Me?”

Link nods, walking up to him again.

“Haven’t you ever thought about it? How you’re useless? How you’re nothing compared to everyone else?”

Green stares at him in disbelief, then shakes his head.

“You’re wrong! You don’t know what our team is like! We _need_ each other!”

“But are you _really_ needed? I mean, if you’re not a leader, then who even _are_ you?”

Silence. Green only hears his own breathing - this Link he sees really is an apparition, and the more he looks at him, the more that throbbing headache comes back.

“Think about it. Red is cute, and kind, and always encouraging everyone. Blue is always ready to defend everyone, and he’s always a special kind of witty, and he’s stupidly loyal. Vio is a bit reserved, sure, but he’s very loving and does his best to guide everyone through tough situations by thinking of a plan. And Shadow is not only a magician, he’s also mischievous and surprisingly good at making last-minute decisions that save everyone in a pinch. All of them have some kind of palpable trait. And all of them provide some kind of function that a leader should provide. But what about you? _What_ are you? _Who_ are you? Are you even a real person?”

Green takes a moment to process everything - or rather, he tries to, but that headache is blocking his attempts for the most part.

“You can’t even answer me?”

“I can!” He tries to push past the mental roadblock by sheer force of will. “I’m… I’m…”

“You are…?” Link raises an eyebrow.

But it’s futile. Green’s brain feels like mush, and his vision is starting to blur.

“I’m…” He continues, more trying to hold onto what control of his mind he has left, and he tries to focus on Link’s face, but it’s all a blur.

“Well?” Link beckons him to speak, his voice growing louder in Green’s ear.

It’s too much. The blur in his vision, the pain in his mind, and the noise ringing in his head. It’s all too much. And he has to let it out somehow, because if he doesn’t, he feels like he may burst.

So he drops to his knees, closing his eyes tightly and gripping at his cap even more than before.

“I’m the worst part of you!” He shrieks, the words reverberating from the walls.

There’s no response from Link, but he doesn’t care. Breathing starts to become difficult, and he feels warm tears welling up in his eyes.

“It’s not a secret, okay? I know that! Everyone does!” He declares with a sob in his voice, his eyes still closed and his head lowered. “I’m nothing! I’m the worst parts of you! The parts that are empty! The parts that are useless!”

He hears Link chuckle, and while he would find this odd in any other situation, he finds that yelling has only made everything worse rather than releasing the pressure in his mind.

Then he hears Link’s voice, sweet as a song with a hint of a growl, speak to him again.

“There we go. Now you understand.”

Green sniffs and gives him a nod.

“Do you see now that you’re not needed? And that you never were?”

Green nods again, but he’s not the one telling his body to move. He feels like a puppet on a string, being forced to comply with this ghostly Link’s will, aware but unable to change anything.

Yet, he can’t say he disagrees with everything Link is saying, and if he’s being honest, he’d been dealing with thoughts like these for a while now. It was a little nice to hear someone else who understood his feelings, who understood what he had bottled up until now.

“Don’t you think things would be better if you were gone? For the others? No, for everyone? You’d never bother Father again, and the others wouldn’t have to carry you around as dead weight or listen to your selfish commands ever again. Doesn’t that sound lovely?” Link emphasizes that last word as sweetly as he can, and once again, Green feels himself nod.

 _A way out doesn’t sound so bad_ , he thinks. _Things would be better, wouldn’t they? And would I really be missed? Probably not_ , he convinces himself.

Even if he was able to see how absurd these thoughts are, though, he can no longer move his body. And this would normally be a problem, because he can hear the sound of a sword being unsheathed, and he can only assume that this won’t end well for him, but there’s nothing he can do.

Link’s face comes back into view as Green feels a hand lifting his head under his chin, but something about it is disturbing. The smile on Link’s face is a bit _too_ kind, a bit _too_ happy - especially if he’s about to do what Green thinks he’s going to do.

“Don’t you worry, Green. This will only hurt for a moment.”

That confirms it. But does he care enough to protest? Does he care enough to beg for his life from the very person who gave him a life? Wasn’t it Link’s right to take his life if he so chose? And would he resist the chance for his insignificant, pitiful life to be ended here, by the hand of someone he loves?

Link stands up. Green stares at him with dead eyes.

_No. Wait._

Link draws his sword back with the same sweet smile. Green feels one of his tears finally fall from his face.

_Wait!_

Link swings the sword forward, and it’s as if time slows down as the sword descends through the air.

Green sees their faces. And in that moment, all he can do is call out to them, as loud as he can, and hope that they hear him.

_Red! Blue! Vio! Shadow!_

But before he can actually speak, there’s a blinding flash of light, and the apparition of Link fades away before his eyes, and he hears another voice calling to him instead.

“Green! Open your eyes! Hey!”

The mind fog starts to clear, and Green’s headache disappears. He lets himself drop to the floor with a sigh of relief, recognizing the voice.

_Blue, that idiot._

And when he opens his eyes again, he finds himself surrounded by the others in the midst of what looks like a ruined temple, and Red is holding onto him for dear life.

“Green! You’re awake!” Red cries, nuzzling Green’s cheek and making him giggle.

“Bastard!” Blue cries as well, holding Green tightly. “You don’t get to keep doing that! Stop passing out on me! I’ll kill you!”

“You wouldn’t,” Green teases, and Blue pretends to punch his arm.

“You alright? You were out for a while,” Vio explains, ruffling the part of Green’s hair that had escaped from under his cap.

“I’m… not sure,” Green answers, but he can’t get himself to frown after being reunited with all of his loved ones. “I had a really weird dream.”

“Figures,” Shadow comments with a shrug. “That thing we were fighting was some kind of nightmare demon. You took a bad hit.”

“Was it anything really bad?” Red asks, rubbing Green’s arm.

“You could say that,” Green rubs Red’s arm back. “But forget it. Let’s get going. There’s got to be more monsters left.”

“You’re right,” Vio smiles, and he offers a hand to both Red and Green while Shadow helps Blue on the other side. To Green’s surprise, Vio pulls him into a hug when he stands up.

“Welcome back,” he says as he rubs Green’s back. Green pats his back in return.

“Thank you. It’s good to be home.”

“This is ‘home’?” Blue asks with a smirk, looking around at the ruins. “Feels kind of drab, if you ask me.”

Green shakes his head, letting himself smile again. “Home is where you all are.”


End file.
